Gratitude for educators throughout pandemic

To Connecticut’s educators: As we approach the upcoming holidays, I want to let you know that your continued commitment to our students and families has not gone unnoticed by me or the residents of our state. It would not be presumptuous to say on behalf of all of us, we thank you for your extraordinary and heightened sense of service to keep our students learning and maintain the safety of our school communities. If you feel this has not been said enough, please know that we see you, we hear you, and we are grateful for all that you do.

I truly understand the added level of anxiety and stress this pandemic has layered on an already demanding and sometimes undervalued profession. Visiting schools over the last several months has served as a reminder that we became teachers and leaders because we wanted to provide equitable access to the best possible outcomes for our students — not because we thought it would be easy. As we work to address this educational crisis in the most important year, in the most important profession, there are also no easy answers.

As a father of two children attending in-person school in the same district in which close family members work daily, I want to make clear that I would not ask you, your colleagues, and your family members to place yourselves in a situation in which I myself would not want my loved ones working and learning. To be sure, there is some risk to any action we take, however, your health and safety are just as valuable and as high a priority.

Since March, we have been convening with education union leaders and representatives of our superintendents and local Boards of Education, along with the Governor’s office and state health officials, to make sure we are providing guidance based on research, science and public health data. Professional advice from national, state and local health officials has been the basis of our guidance to school districts to make decisions about the best teaching and learning models for their respective communities. We have even created substitute flexibilities so that, when quarantining, teachers can save their sick time while teaching from home and know that a vetted adult is supervising their classroom.

At the heart of these discussions is and has always been the safety of students and staff. If we provide safe in-person learning options for students, whenever possible, we can ensure we are doing everything in our control to level the educational playing field and reduce gaps in opportunities for our students. If we can do it safely, this is what we owe to them. It has been made apparent through frequent communication from health experts that our schools have consistently been among the best implementers of mitigation strategies and that contact tracing patterns show that there is not widespread transmission in schools. Cases reported by schools, which include students who are in full remote learning, are being traced back to community spread happening outside the building. What does this tell us? Reducing community spread is all of our responsibility!

The individual building closures we see are the result of protocols that schools have implemented to protect the health of our dedicated educators. Districts have reported to us that these decisions are often made out of an abundance of caution and, in many examples, related to staffing shortages due to quarantining. In fact, with the exception of the healthcare industry, I could not name another industry or organization that compares to our schools when it comes to the rigorous implementation of mitigation strategies and safety precautions that are now in place.

I am in awe daily of the heroism you have demonstrated throughout this crisis because I recognize that you too have experienced major disruptions in your lives. Yes, the release of the vaccine is a promising light at the end of the tunnel. However, you and your schools have already been serving as the lighthouses providing safe harbor for our students as they navigate these unstable waters.

Despite the uncertainty you may feel about everything we face, know that you are valued, appreciated, and vital to the success of our students. Enjoy the upcoming holidays with your families and take this well-deserved break to recharge, reflect, and find some solace in the fact that the pandemic has already tried us in ways we could never have imagined. Yet, together, we made it this far. Moving forward as one educational community, leaning on that same sense of unity, I am confident that we got this.